Friday, September 29, 2006

I've been away too long...

I've been away from the blog for a week. I was on vacation to a lakeside cabin with no phone or internet. It was a nice break. Now I'm back to take a look at what has happened since I was away.

First off, no one yet knows how long Malkin will be out. The common number tossed around is 4-6 weeks, but no one is talking.

I'll do a separate post on how the roster battles are shaping up, but Erik Christensen was sent down to Wilkes-Barre. I'm disappointed, as I like Christensen. Supposedly, he hasn't regained whatever confidence he lost last season. Let's hope he does - he could have stepped into the second line center role.

Thibault is looking better than Fleury at this point and according to Dave Molinari, T-Bo may start the season as the #1 goalie. He even goes so far as to suggest that MAF could start the season with the Baby Pens. This would be a huge surprise to me. In fact, I'd still be really surprised if Fleury isn't between the pipes next Thursday.

One of the biggest stories out of camp has been the play of Kristopher Letang, who is trying to make the jump straight out of juniors to the NHL at the age of 19. I don't see any way that this is going to happen, but I'd love to see it. Letang is a great offensive guy, and he is a right-handed shot, which is something the Pens could sorely use.